Conventionally, it is told that since Paul Cézanne (1839–1906) was the painter who loves nature, he escaped from a noisy, modern Paris that developed rapidly and painted instead amid the pure nature of Aix-en-Provence, his country hometown. Although this discourse is true to an extent, it has failed to capture Cézanne’s entire essence; if his life and works are correctly investigated without prejudice, it becomes clear that Cézanne is “a painter of modern life” as well as “a painter who loves nature.”

Actually, it is important to note that, while he lived in Aix, Cézanne drew modern railway subjects in various ways. First, Cézanne sketched the railway cutting on the Aix-Rognac line as visible from his house garden about 100 meters away to create The Mont Sainte-Victoire and the Railway Cutting (c. 1870) (Fig. 1). Second, in his preceding works, he painted not only the railway cutting but also the railway signal on the same line: The Railway Cutting (1867–1868) (Fig. 2) and The Railway Cutting (1867–1870) (Fig. 3). Third, The Railway Cutting (1867–1870) (Fig. 4) depicts the railroad as well as the railway cutting. These paintings show his enthusiasm as he tried to topicalize the steam railway in his early years in Aix.

In addition, Cézanne depicted the railway bridge on the Aix-Marseille line. In fact, he sketched the railway bridge that spans across the Arc River and the valley in a suburb of Aix, as shown in The Pine before the Arc Valley (1883–1885) (Fig. 5), The Viaduct of the Arc Valley (1883–1885) (Fig. 6), The Mont Sainte-Victoire (1892–1895) (Fig. 7), and many other paintings.

Cézanne also painted a steam locomotive on the Aix-Marseille line. Actually, he depicted the train passing through the railway bridge at Arc valley, as shown in The Mont Sainte-Victoire Seen from Bellevue (1882–1885) (Fig. 8), The Mont Sainte-Victoire and Large Pine (1886–1887) (Fig. 9), and The Arc Valley (c. 1885) (Fig. 10).